Exclusivity Not

Coming off Gamescom, one of the biggest (and most controversial) announcements was Microsoft claiming Square and Crystal Dynamic’s Rise of the Tomb Raider. While the first installment of Lara Croft’s reboot, Tomb Raider, was multiplatform, Rise of the Tomb Raider was labeled as “exclusive to Microsoft”.

[Snookies12]

Timed exclusives are not exclusives at all. I don't even consider PS3/PS4 games that are on Vita as well exclusive, or vice versa. Same goes with 360/X1 games that are also on PC, or vice versa. Those aren't exclusive either. An exclusive is something that's only on that one singular platform and will not be on another.

[scark92]

Yeah, Timed Exclusives are not system sellers either, for me anyway, but yeah you are defo right!

[Mithan]

Well, Destiny sold me on the PS4 and no doubt it will make the jump to the PC next year.

[DarkZane]

@Mithan

Pretty sure the chances of Destiny coming to PC are incredibly slim, considering Bungie's track record.

[MadLad]

^

Bungie's track record was purely under Microsoft, helping to push Xbox as a console.
They are now part of Activision. Activision does third-party. And they love money.

I'm surprised if they don't announce a PC version in a couple months.

[UltraNova]

Like I've said before MS securing TR for a year is only good news to my ears cause I wont have to hurry and finish Uncharted 4 to play this, plus we will probably get a visually upgraded, all dlc including, cheaper version a year later!

Classic case of WIN-WIN for ps4 owners.

[Major_Glitch]

@Snookies How are you getting disagrees?! Dear MS only people, if it isn't exclusive to one system, then you don't get to call it an exclusive. ie. Titanfall...Fact. Although, if I only owned THAT console, I'd be defensive too.

[mcarsehat]

Same reason you are getting disagrees, it's a ridiculous theory, the company makes the deal for exclusivity, the console itself doesn't pick up the phone and arrange a business meeting SMH.

A game that is an exclusive is exclusive to the company. If they are on the console and the portable console, they can still be called exclusives.

Fanboys are thick...

[Sindustry]

I can't reply to mcarsehat, for some reason lol. Troll?

Theory is "ridiculous"?

This "timed exclusive" stuff is just like net flix vs dvd, or on-demand vs netflix.

Sure you can get a game sooner if you own a denuded-wannabe-pc before the rest. Big deal. The theory that it's not really exclusive is totally realistic.

Kinda like PC vs Consoles anyone? I guess D3, Half-Life, Team Fortress, and many many more PC titles were "timed" exclusives also lol.

[JoGam]

Yes an exclusivity depends on the contract. For example, an exclusive could mean that Sony only has a game that would be on PS4, PS3 and Vita however because its exclusive to Sony still makes it an exclusive, MS wouldn't have it. Same goes for Timed exclusive. If MS has it for a period of time however at a later date Sony will get it then yes its timed exclusive. However there are also a single console exclusive too. For example infamous is exclusive to Sony however Infamous Second Son is exclusive to PS4 which is also owned by Sony.

[Imalwaysright]

@ mcarsehat

Not sure if serious... We don't play games on companies, we play them on platforms. PC is not the same as a X1 or a PS4 so it means that games like Ryse, Titanfall or Planetside are multiplatform. The same is true for the Vita, PS3 or PS4. Even if a game was made just for these platforms it would still be a multiplatform game because I can play it on one of them without needing the other 2.

[mixolydian_id]

Its probably just because people love to generalise.

Like so...

Ms = xbox
Sony = PS
Nintendo = Wii

PC = ...Ms/Windows? ....
Or should... it be PC = Devs?

[come_bom]

Yep, exclusive means that a game can only be played on one platform. It's exclusives that sell consoles, not timed exclusives. It's exclusives that differentiates a specific console from other consoles.

Unless it's the console maker that's paying for the entire development (and something extra for the effort) of the 3rd party game, I find some 3rd party developers pretty stupid to make exclusives deals (or timed exclusive) for just a little extra cash. Timed exclusives essentially means that the game when released on other platforms, will sell a lot less due to the hype and interest on the game being gone. I'm looking at you: Hellblade, Tomb Raider, No Mans Sky, among many others...

EDIT: @JoGam
"Wow dude, what you just typed makes no sense."
Read. It. Slowly.

[JoGam]

Wow dude, what you just typed makes no sense. You honestly dont believe that do you?

[mechlord]

Well, the problem is that people are mixing the business meaning that was attributed to the word with the word itself.

timed exclusive doesn't make sense grammatically.
exclusive is something that is unique and in the sense of gaming something that can only be found in ONE console. One console. not a family, not within a year or any other bullshit. If you want to look at it from the business perspective, then all hell breaks loose and its not my fault.

[mixolydian_id]

I wish people would take a step back, open their mind and accept that they don't know as much as they think they know.

Everything in these articles/within the comments is based solely on what people think they know. It effects every comment above and below.

Mis-information due to generalisation is like Chinese whispers and interpretation.

It's safe to say that everything wrote by a user within this site, is speculative. Very little fact is presented, very little information is politically correct and you are essentially speaking anonymously to everyone.

People can say whatever they like. Correct or not. Wild accusation, sheer patriotic belief... etc

It's because of this that people actually don't care about what others think. Its what you think that counts. It's what this website thrives upon.

Why should anyone care... as long as you have your un-swaying comment spoken.

My offering... not that anyone cares...

Full exclusives ruin the industry... do you need me to elaborate?
They prevent mass enjoyment by localising gameplay to any number of platforms in the attempt to one up another platform.

Exclusives can bugger off

[KiwiViper85]

Just say "Launching First on XboxOne/PS4"

Problem Solved

[Azzanation]

Timed Exclusives are still exclusives. Until there's another version of the game available on another system, then that game is an exclusive to what ever system its available on. In TR case, its not available on anything else until its timed plan is finished.

[lifeisgamesok]

People still salty over this?

[MasterCornholio]

Why would they be if its just a timed exclusive?

Philo Spencer said it would come to the PS4 later on. If it was a true exclusive then it would be a different story.

[starrman1985]

He didn't say it would come to PS4 after, he just said it was a timed exclusive and once that time expires CD can take it where they want.

I'm honestly not sure it will come to PS4 now, or if it does it will be a year+ down the line (kind of like Bio Shock)

[BX81]

If ms was smart they would promote the hell out of this games and if it does well make another deal for exclusivity.

[ScorpiusX]

Don't think he said that , he stated a duration and anything else is up to Square & CD but never did he mentioned that on stage . That I recall and I watched the show.

[YodaCracker]

Why would they bother to secure its exclusivity forever? Games produce the majority of their sales within the first few weeks, especially with a holiday release. Basically, Rise of the Tomb Raider will be exclusive to Xbox until sales have dried up and it is no longer relevant. Then it will come to other platforms after it has paid off all its benefits to Microsoft. Obviously, they wouldn't make the deal in the first place if it wasn't beneficial to them.

[Infamous298]

Tomb Raider had history with Playstation as mass effect did with Xbox,I wonder what will be the reaction of the xbox fans if supposedly mass effect went exclusive to the Playstation platform.

Even though I stopped caring about this whole tomb raider timed exclusive fiasco, i still think that was a bullshit move made by both square einx and microsoft and people had all the rights to complain.

@Major_Glitch Halo is a bad examle becuae its a first party game.

[Major_Glitch]

Can you imagine if the next Halo was a PS 4 exclusive? The bots would lose their minds. Let them have their timed-exclusives. They need it.

[Larry L]

People have the right to be upset about it. Personally as a PS gamer andnot an Xbox gamer, I think this is good for eveyone involved.

It's good for MS since this whole business has at least given them an exclusive people are actually talkng about. Whether that talk is positive or negative, any publicity is good publicity in most cases.

It's good for Square becuse any kind of deal with MS put a nice injection of money (i would guess to the tune of 5-10 million) in their bank account.

And it's good for Sony and PS gamers for multiple reasons. It's again, good PR for Sony with the bleeding heart, hate big business decision types. And great for PS gamers because we don't have 2 very similar type games competing for our wallets and time in the same season, we can just focus on Uncharted. And when TR inevitably relases on PS4 it will be thoroughly bug tested by Xbox gamers, it will have graphical advancements, and will hav a bunch of new content. Ala Ninja Gaiden/Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

Everyone wins.

[Docknoss]

Mass Effect is an EA game, MS and EA are really close. No way shape or form would ME ever become exclusive to either system.

[mixolydian_id]

It's timed exclusivity... not even worth losing hair about.

Everyone should be thankful that the game is shared between the platforms... even at the cost of a bit of time.

Full exclusivity is gash... share the wealth... not for the money... but for the gamers.

[LeCreuset]

Are you, and some of your cohorts here, still salty over the backlash this deal has received? Those of you in the "move on" camp are free to do just that. Is someone making you click on these articles? Or are you just playing reputation manager and salty MS wasted money on a PR blunder that has resulted in overwhelmingly negative publicity?

[Xb1ps4]

Who are you? Ms accountant to claim they wasted money?

You call it a pr blunder and I call it a game..

[LeCreuset]

Xb1ps4

And who are you? One of their unpaid spokesman, getting upset about something so minor and replying 21 hours after the fact? Don't be so invested in the MS defense.

As for me, I'm the guy who, like everyone else paying attention, saw MS spend money to create the illusion of an exclusive, only to turn around and admit timed exclusivity following the negative public backlash.

That "game" is a game MS would have had anyway. Everything surrounding the deal and the money that was spent to (temporarily) keep it off of other systems is the PR blunder.

They didn't buy you a game. They paid to keep it off of other systems. You already know that, but you're going to carry on drinking the green kool aid and being readily available whenever MS needs an unpaid defender.

[Xb1ps4]

Who am I? I'm the guy that wasn't pouting and crying since I have both consoles so it really didn't matter either way so I couldn't care less and sure as he'll wasn't mad..

You sony fanatics and your bs.. No they didn't buy me a game but they helped a franchise that was clearly I'm trouble financially... Phillis interview about is a good read but I'm sure it's all lies... All of it all because you are a one console owner..

I'm not a defender I just call out the dumb shit and you are clearly on some dumb shit...

[LeCreuset]

Xb1ps4

"... I have both consoles... All of it all because you are a one console owner.."

Just goes to show how narrow your vision is. Not only are there more than two consoles, but there are three main consoles, alone: Wii U, PS4, and Xbox. I own a PS4, Wii U, PS3, Wii, Vita, 3DS, and a PSP, as well as a Retron 3 which plays Genesis, SNES and NES games. I used to own a Game Cube, which was stolen and a Sega Saturn. Sounds to me like you're another MS loyalist forced to acknowledge you want a PS4, catching hurt feelings because people like me don't feel the need for an XB1.

"I'm not a defender I just call out the dumb ____ and you are clearly on some dumb ____..."

You're so defensive you can barely get a coherent sentence out, while ranting in your profanity laced reply. You are clearly too invested in protecting MS from criticism.

[Xb1ps4]

Yea bro because you going on to say I'm an unpaid ms employee is really coherent...

Lmfao I'm narrow minded? You're all butt hurt because a 3rd party game is coming exclusively to a console you don't own and you can't even come into terms on why it was done! All you care about is the ps4 and not the game, that's being narrow minded..

Rottr was never coming to the wiiu so it was irrelevant.

Last gen I had all consoles including the one not in your list, you know the 360...

I'm deeply invested?! I'm not the one going on a rampage filling out petitions over a 3rd party game lol I would call that being deeply invested but of course anyone that says anything positive about the Xbox they must be a ms employee to you since from your list you never owned a xbox.

Ps4
Wanted_ in_bpt
Xb1
Wanted again

You and your die hard sony fans really need to calm down, again if you owned both you wouldn't be looking like a bag of salt..

[Geekman]

Of course we are. It's Tomb Raider.

[Software_Lover]

.... Give it a rest. Everyone knows what the deal is now. Lets move on.

[N311V]

I'm not so sure. It's not been specifically stated that ROTTR will be released on PS platforms. Phil Spencer only spoke of the franchise as a whole not this particular game. Technically speaking Dead Rising 3 and Ryse were timed exclusive to Xbox before being released on PC, the exclusion of PS platforms for those games remains indefinitely. This could be the case with ROTTR but it won't be clarified as they now know it'd be a PR disaster.

[Tedakin]

This is soooo 2 weeks ago.

[sikandar201]

Oh Come On! I'm tired of this Tomb Raider Time- Exclusivity shit...

[Illusive_Man]

Exclusive to Microsoft meaning Xbox and later PC. MS is codeveloping and marketing the game. You people think they would shell out those resources and cash for the title to go to PS4? Fat chance.

By the way Titanfall was timed as well. Why don't we see TF on PS4? Timed doesn't necessarily mean coming to PS4.

[ziggurcat]

"Exclusive to Microsoft meaning Xbox and later PC"

no. they never said it was purely exclusive to MS.

it's exclusive to xbox for holiday 2015, then later on PS4/PC.

"By the way Titanfall was timed as well. Why don't we see TF on PS4? Timed doesn't necessarily mean coming to PS4."

you've got your information all wrong. it *was* timed, but then MS threw a truckload of money at EA to make it permanent.

[ziggurcat]

too late to edit, but please, by all means, post a link from anywhere that 100% confirms that MS is co-developing this game. that goes out to anyone, really. post a link proving MS is co-developing TR.

because they most certainly are *not* co-developing this game. you people keep thinking that paying for timed exclusivity = helping with the development. the reality is that that's not even close to being the case. the money is going towards marketing, and covering the cost of lost sales from the other platforms during the time period it's exclusive to xbox. that's it.

[N311V]

I think you might be rights. It's exactly what DR3 and Ryse are as well. Exclusive to Xbox and PC defined by the exclusion of PS platforms.

[strangeaeon]

Christ man, change the record and move on with your life, timed exclusives have been around long before the evil M$.

[Darkxen117]

I think is a great deal that Microsoft and square enix have and put rise of the tomb raider exclusive in holiday 2015 for Xbox one. But people are complaining about is because is for Xbox if it was announced for ps4 I'm sure nobody complaints instead Sony and the fan boys just star trolling the Xbox fans and Microsoft. Anyway every body need to understand something this is business and business means money. And I hope sincerely that Microsoft buy the tomb raider IP it would be a great addition to Microsoft first party collection.

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

And because of money, Tomb Raider becoming a MS IP will never happen. That would be a really, really dumb move on Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics part. Tomb Raider not only sells very well, but it sells more on Playstation.

[Sm00thNinja]

Is there any confirmation development hasn't already started on PS4 and was just stopped due to this deal? More than likely well see a PS4 release. Why is everyone so salty over this? Microsoft will market it as an exclusive it'll sell a few consoles. I know I can't wait for it! Lets not act like suddenly we didn't was a sequel. Your fanboy is getting in the way of your gamer

[SECondsaway]

I hate how PS gamers think Xbox One all act the same smh we gamers too IDC about exclusives we all play games and we all want to play the same games no matter the system

[LeCreuset]

"I hate how PS gamers think Xbox One all act the same smh"

Ironic.

[Spotie]

Not only blatantly hypocritical, but also lacking in coherence.

Good job.

[LeCreuset]

Edit: Repost

[trywizardo]

this is just an angry sony-fan yapping about this old news , everyone knows the deal , and the time period and sony paid good cash to make it timed exclusive , so shut the f*** up , and enough with this game "exclusivity news" show us some gameplay :D

[Predaking77]

Bloodbourne, that's a real exclusive and system seller.

[Speak_da_Truth]

My mind has already been made so it doesn't matter if it's timed or not. when ever it shows up on Ps4, I rent it.

[DLConspiracy]

Well if everyone does that the place that rents the game out has to buy more copies to rent. So that just means they sell more copies in the end. So there is no way to "show them" you're angry with your wallet. You are still helping them sell games.

Maybe its time to bury all this hatred for another plastic box and mow a few extra lawns this summer so you can pick up the "other" console. That way you don't have to worry which system a game is on and you can just support the gaming community as a whole. Its too tiring to choose sides for me. Who cares anymore?

[DJustinUNCHAIND]

Open a few more lemonade stands, even.

[ChickenOfTheCaveMan]

It will be interesting how this timed exclusives game plays out in a year if PS4 is at 20-25 millions and X1 at 10.

[Noahmtodd]

Xbox should make a comeback in sales. I don't think it'll be that large a gap.

[urwifeminder]

Will be supporting these guys last game was sweet.

[Noahmtodd]

I loved the first TR.

[Grindlefly]

Exclusive is one platform only - end of. No ifs buts or whatever, if i can play said game anywhere else then it isnt exclusive

An example - best to my knowledge

PS3 - Heavy Rain
Xbox 360 - Forza 4

[N311V]

I disagree. Exclusive means to exclude, to not include, to deny participation. If a deal is made so that a game is never released on Playstation but is on Xbox and eventually PC then that game is still exclusive.

[Grindlefly]

I respectfully disagree as by that logic you could say Battlefield 4 is exclusive as it isn't on wii u???

[DJStotty]

unless its exclusive to Microsoft which includes 360/one/windows/windowsphone. Or Sony PS1/PS2/PS3/Vita/PSP. exclusive is one platform when it states exclusive to xbox one/PS4 etc etc. Tomb Raider is exclusive to xbox (360/one) (2 consoles) in "Holiday 2015"

[ShadowWolf712]

Eh, can't agree with his use of Bayonetta as an example. Bayonetta 2 literally exists only because Nintendo paid for it.

But otherwise the point is solid.

[kingvendrick]

By the time this game appears the sales difference between PS4 & xbone will be huge. No way MS's moneyhatting will compensate for the lost sales to PS4.

Squeenix will end up kicking themselves to death.

[jznrpg]

This being timed isn't the end of the world for me, I didn't get the reboot until 6months after it came out anyway. Good game , but there is so much coming out for ps4 it would be in my backlog anyway. But I understand people's angst towards the practice.

[horndog]

They still hurting.